The field of the invention is metal plating apparatus and methods as used in semiconductor manufacturing and in related micro-scale device manufacturing.
Microelectronic and other micro-scale devices are generally manufactured by plating layers of materials onto a substrate, such as a silicon wafer, to produce a large number of individual devices. Metal layers are plated onto the substrate to form electrically conductive patterns and for other applications as well. The metal layers may be plated onto the substrate using various plating apparatus, for example as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,390,383; U.S. 2006-0237323 A1; U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,931,786; and 7,585,398, each incorporated herein by reference. The plating apparatus often have rotor that rotates the substrate in a bath of electrolyte during the plating process. A seal may be provided on the rotor in some designs, to seal off electrical contacts from the electrolyte.
In use, metal tends to accumulate on the seal. This degrades the electrical current path in the plating apparatus, which correspondingly degrades the quality of the plated metal layer. Often, other components of a plating apparatus can also benefit from cleaning. Accordingly, there is a need for improved techniques for cleaning seals and other components in plating apparatus.